Ruth later claimed he was pointing to the spot where he’d hit the next pitch Whether fact or legend Ruth’s called shot is a treasured part of baseball history The longest home runs can travel more than 500 feet Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs hit the longest homer of the 2015 MLB season It was estimated at 495 feet LEAVING THE YARD Chicago’s Wrigley Field is one of baseball’s most homer-friendly parks It’s not uncommon for balls to be hit completely out of the stadium In the 2015 playoffs Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs almost hit one out to right field It landed on top of a scoreboard The team encased the ball in glass and kept it on the spot where it landed hoping it would bring them good luck the rest of the playoffs Kyle Schwarber watches his monster home run head toward the stands in a 2015 NL playoff game against the St Louis Cardinals 8
2 EARLY YEARS Time Time doesn’t matter much in baseball There’s no clock And the game is played basically the same way as it was when it began Baseball has been enjoyed in the United States for well over 150 years It started with even older games played in England Rounders and cricket are games similar to baseball They all involve sticks or bats balls and running between stations Settlers from England brought rounders and cricket with them to North America Cricket shares many similarities with baseball 10 10
